WiMAX known by just one in fifteen Japanese
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With the launch of UQ Communications’ WiMAX service in Japan on the 26th of February, Marsh Inc performed a survey, reportd on by japan.internet.com, into awareness of WiMAX.
Demographics
Over the 5th and 6th of March 2009 300 members of the Marsh monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. Exactly 50.0% of the sample were male, 20.0% in their teens, 20.0% in their twenties, 20.0% in their thirties, 20.0% in their forties, 14.7% in their fifties, and 5.3% aged sixty or older.
WiMAX is, of course, err, I don’t really know – something to do with next generation high-speed wireless is about the extent of my knowledge, so instead have a look at a story on Asiajin to see a bit more about what it is.
Q1 is a bit surprising with only 63.0% aware of WiFi. The complete question was not reported, so I wonder if there was something a bit strange about the phrasing.
Q1SQ2 seems a bit strange as the implication is that over 40% of the sample learnt about UQ WiMAX between the asking of Q1 and Q1SQ2, so for this question too there must have been some strange phrasing.
Research results
Q1: Do you know what wireless LAN and other mobile internet methods are? (Sample size=300)
Yes (to SQ1, SQ3) 63.0% No 37.0% Q1SQ1: Do you know what WiMAX is? (Sample size=189)
Yes (to SQ2) 10.6% No 89.4% Putting the two together we get:
Q1+Q1SQ1: Do you know what WiMAX is? (Sample size=300)
Yes 6.7% No 56.3% Don’t even know WiFi 37.0% Q1SQ2: Do you know that the UQ WiMAX service started on the 26th of February 2009? (Sample size=189)
Knew before it started 2.6% Heard the news when it started 5.3% Don’t know about it starting 45.0% Don’t know what UQ WiMAX is 47.1% Q1SQ3: Would you want to use a WiMAX service in the future? (Sample size=189)
Really want to use 2.6% Want to use if I get the chance 11.6% Can’t say either way 54.5% Don’t particularly want to use 19.6% Don’t want to use at all 11.6%
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Yikes! That’s really not a lot of penetration for a revolutionary product going to market. I would have expected pretty much universal knowledge of it in a place like Japan, at least in the under-40 crowd. Wouldn’t be quite so surprised to see such numbers here in Canada though, where I’m trying to raise start-up capital to build a nationwide WiMAX network, and so far have managed to raise a grand total of CAD$0.00.
As for what it is, WiMAX (IEEE 802.16 specification) is a networking protocol operating in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, that offers a theoretical potential performance of 300Mb/s over a range of up to 48km, non-line-of-sight. In real-world implementations, the range is hampered by the composition of obstructions, but even so, a grid spaced 10-15km between nodes could provide ample coverage for an urban or suburban area, with higher through-put at a much lower cost than Wi-Fi or 3G wireless technologies such as EvDO, or even wired technologies such as cable or DSL, especially if WiMAX networking technology is combined with a mesh network architecture. It is the only networking technology that can cost-effectively service sparsely populated rural areas, as well as wilderness areas benefiting trekkers, rescue, fire suppression and emergency services personnel, and the military.